Fake currency: Accomplice of kingpin arrested by NIA

New Delhi, Oct 22: Close on the heels of nabbing Uttam Kumar Sinha, an alleged mastermind of the fake currency racket, the National Investigation Agency has made yet another arrest.

The NIA on the basis of the interrogation of Sinha picked up Purshottam Kesri from Surat.

Both Sinha and Kesri are part of the same network and the NIA is probing a case involving fake currency of the face value of Rs 10 lakh.

Both these persons are alleged to be involved in a fake currency racket that is being run from Murshidabad in West Bengal.

It was during the questioning of Sinha that the name of Kesri was revealed.

Sinha is said to have told the NIA that Kesri was his accomplice while also handing out the location details.

The details of the investigation suggest that the duo along with their other accomplices had sent out Rs 4 crore worth of fake currency across the country over the past few years.

The modus operandi involved dispatching fake currency by couriers in the guise of labourers/masons to different parts of the country and in turn the payment is received through cash deposits from different states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and other parts of the country, into the bank accounts maintained by him.

Uttam Kumar Sinha has disclosed that he used to procure High quality fake currency through his contacts in Bangladesh and then distribute the same through his gang members in different parts of the country.

He had been arrested in the past in Gujarat as well as Jharkhand in cases relating to fake currency smuggling but he managed to obtain bail and had again activated the smuggling network.

Uttam Kumar Sinha is also wanted in a fake currency smuggling case of July, 2012 being investigated by CBI.